Lesson Learned (Watty Awards)

Chapter 1

Ms. Prankster Gets It

            “Raven Dogwood, report to the principal’s office!” My teacher, Mrs. Kirk practically yells at me as her face turns red and she bears her ugly yellow teeth, looking exactly like a rat. The only thing making this situation slightly less antagonizing is the stapler glued to her hand, which she’s waving at me threateningly. Ah, what a way to end this week of pranking people in every which way.

“Yes ma’am!” I stand up and salute her sarcastically, grabbing my things as I do and dashing out of the classroom before she really gets mad. I laugh manically as I sprint down the hallway.

            I pass many rows of ugly green lockers before I finally get to my destination. I know how to get here from practically every class, since I’ve been to this office more times than I can count on my fingers and toes. I sigh half-heartedly and push the door to the office open. Quickly, I head over to the sign in sheet and sloppily jot down my name then plop into one of the seats. The receptionist comes in, sees me, and rolls her eyes before pointing her finger at me, then jabbing it towards Mr. Turner’s office.

            I roll my eyes right back at her, and push myself of the chair and saunter over to his door. I push it open and immediately go to the chair I’ve claimed as mine and kick my feet up on his desk. I wait about five minutes before he ambles in with a trademark scowl on his face, which I believe has been permanently etched there. He takes a seat, and instantly removes my feet from his desk, and I just smile. Ah, we have such a nostalgic relationship.

            “I feel the need to remind you of Eminem’s famous words, ‘keep makin’ that face and it’ll get stuck like that.’” As I say this, I fold my hands together, put my elbows on his desk, then rest my head on the platform I’ve created.

            “Ms. Dogwood, I assure you, if those words were made famous by this Eminem fellow, my mother would never have used that one on me. Now, Mrs. Kirk sent you up here because you glued her hand to a stapler, am I correct?” He says with a no-nonsense tone of voice.

            “Yes, but it was well worth it to see her trying to shake that stapler off her hand for five minutes before realizing it was glued.” I laugh wholeheartedly at the memory, which was in fact seriously funny.

            “I can handle you making small pranks, like the water bucket above the girl’s locker room, or stealing all the towels and clothes from the boy’s locker room, but when you start messing with the faculty, that’s where I draw the line. You’ve been in my office a total of eight times already, and we’re only on the first week of this month. I can’t tolerate your constant detentions and bad behavior in my school anymore. It’s unacceptable and the board is not happy that I’ve allowed you to stay so long. I’m sorry Mrs. Dogwood, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to expel you.” He says this so calmly and certainly, I’m not sure I hear him right.

            “I’m sorry, what?” I ask disbelievingly.

            “You’re expelled. I’m going to have to ask you to go collect your belongings from your locker and return to the office to wait for your parents.” After he repeats this, my mouth drops to the floor and I pinch myself, making sure this isn’t a dream.

            “You called my parents?” I exclaim and stand up out of my chair which falls over, I’m hoping, in surprise.

            “Yes. They’re on their way right now to pick you up, and they are not very happy with you, I might add.”

            “Oh no. No, no, no, no, no! I’m dead. So very dead.” I run my fingers through my hair, not caring if I mess it up.

            “You’d better go collect your things. They’ll be here shortly.” As he says this, the bell for the end of the school day rings, and I jump out of my chair, dash out of his office, and burst into the hallway. Shortly after, I run into someone and knock their books out of their hands in the process.

            “Geez Raven, no need to run over people. I understand you hate me, but gosh girl.” A deep voice jokes lightheartedly from the floor, and I recognize the owner of the voice. It’s my tall, brown haired, blue eyed friend Matt Carter.

            “Sorry Matt. I’m just in a hurry.” I say as I join him on the ground to help him gather his books.

            “For what reason, exactly?” He says as I hand him a few of his books and we stand up.

            “Walk with me?” I ask, and he nods. “Well, it turns out that Mr. Turner has finally gotten fed up with me, and I’ve just been informed that I’m expelled.”

            “Ouch, Raven. That has got to suck big time.”

            “And that’s not even the worst part. He called my parents, which means they’re coming from work to get me.” After the words leave my mouth, Matt has the same reaction as I did.

            “So, when you die, can I have your iPod?” He says, and I shove him in the side with my elbow.

            “No, you may not. I’m taking that thing to the grave with me.” I say this right as we arrive at my locker, where I see my best friend Kristy Lockhart. She may be a short blonde who looks nice and innocent, but boy is that girl feisty.

            “Hey Raven, Matt. What’s up?” She shuts her locker and turns to face us, all smiles. If I’m not mistaken, I see her eyes linger on Matt a little longer than usual. I’ll work on that later, but for now, I’ve got to get my stuff together.

            “Raven got expelled!” Matt shouts before I have a chance to even open my mouth. Dejectedly, I spin my combination and begin retrieving my things from my locker.

            “Are you serious? That’s awful! Who am I going to prank with now?” She says sadly with a small frown on her face.

            “I’m not dying. We can still hang out. I’ll just be going to a different school, that’s all. Well, I’m not dead yet. That could change, seeing as how my parents are on the way to pick me up right now.” I slam my locker shut and use my knee to support my book bag, which I’m now shoving all my belongings in.

            “Oh  no. So, I can have your iPod then?” She says hopefully and I just scoff at her and zip my bag up.

            “Well, I guess I’ll talk to you guys later. I’m off to face my doom. Pray for me.” I say and then they proceed to hug tackle me, which makes me laugh, and I’m thankful for the distraction, however small.

            “We’ve got your back! If we need to come save you, just send me a text.” Kristy says as I make my way back to the office, not ready at all to face my demise. 

A/N: The rest of my novel is now available for purchase on CreateSpace. If you would like to purchase it, you can go to this link: https://www.createspace.com/4162016

When it becomes available on Amazon, I'll put the links up for that on here!